The Path We Walk Will Be Our Reward
by RavenWingDark
Summary: Where, in the moments following the final battle, Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto unanimously know where heaven is. And just maybe, this isn't an end. Bromance, dark with humor. A small journey before the four share a happier ending.
1. Of Noctis

**FINAL FANTASY XV: The Path We Walk Will Be Our Reward**

Where, in the moments following the final battle, Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto unanimously know where heaven is.

* * *

Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio stood at the steps of the citadel, holding the titanic daemons at bay so that their King could save Insomnia. As they hacked and slashed at their enemy, they felt their spirits flaring up in their every movement, their desire to defend their King stronger than it had ever been before. There was nothing they could do as he flirted with death, sacrificed himself and his bloodline to save all of Lucis, the frustration of which did nothing to temper their blows.

"Ignis, Gladio! They're getting inside!" Despite their formidable defensive power, the sheer amount of enemies had meant that daemons and Magitek soldiers were penetrating their rank, slipping past toward the Throne Room, where Noct would be.

"We'll retreat back! Defend as close to Noct as possible!" Ignis shouted. _It was sound logic,_ Gladio thought. If they had him in sight, nothing would be able to slip past them and he would still be defensible.

"Back to Noct then!" Gladio shouted. The three Kingsguard retreated back up the steps and to the second floor, where the Throne Room was. Gladio shoved the door open, friends close behind and slammed them shut behind, latching them with the iron bar in one swift movement. Immediate threat removed, they took a moment to examine the room.

There, at the Throne, Noctis Lucis Caelum XIV lay, bent over the Sword of the Father, silent and still.

Prompto was the first to go running up the steps, taking three at a time, until he reached the throne. He screamed Noct's name, fell to his knees and grabbed the King's hand, tears escaping his reddening eyes. Noct wasn't just the Crown Prince or King, he was the quiet but kind boy that Prompto had spent so long working up the courage to talk to. The one who helped him when homework got rough, the one to played King's Knight with, the one Prompto had decided to go into his very first battle for. Part of him, the persistent optimist that shone in even their worst moments, believed against all odds that Noct would be spared somehow by the Astrals or fate itself. Or that Prompto would never have to see him like this, impaled on his throne, his father's sword through his chest, blood pooling in his lap.

Gladio stood stunned where he was, next to the barred door of the Throne Room. He wished there was a Behemoth, or better yet, Ardyn, to take the impact of the punch he delivered to the stone wall. It split the skin between his knuckles, cracked something on the second and third blow. He was the King's Shield. He was an Amicitia. And more than that, Noct was his best friend. Through and through, it was his duty to never let this happen and he had failed. Just like his father had failed. Failed the second he let his King be the sacrificial pawn. He felt his Amicitia blood roar in his ears, fog his vision and his mind. They gave him a mantra, something to hold onto— _Kill them, kill everything that dares touch the citadel, then go to your King, even if you lose your legs, your eyes, your life._ Only then would he allow himself to bend over the bloodied throne and body and scream his heart out.

After Prompto's scream, Ignis moved up the steps as quickly as he could. The scream was cut off as if Prompto had choked. But his panicked, heaving breaths would not quiet and Ignis homed in on them like a beacon. He made it to the throne in seconds, took off his gloves and fell to his knees as well, feeling around him. His hand reached the back of the cold, Lucian throne. He moved his hand to the left, then right, blocking out all sound and scent of Prompto trying to control himself next to him. Ignis's hand touched warm, wet metal. His breaths were shallow but slow as he forced himself to focus on his best remaining sense. His hands had a tremor by the time the metal he was tracing made contact with damp fabric. His hand traveled up the taut curve of the fabric until he reached soft and feathery hair.

His hand moved upward through the tangled locks of hair, longer than he had remembered. Finally, he reached the forehead, moved down until he felt the fair nose, brushed the eyes, to make sure they weren't open—they weren't. Under his thumbs, he felt the gentle folds of wrinkles under the eyes, more pronounced, he estimated, than his own. Truly, the power of Kings was a heavy weight to bear, something Ignis wished he could have protected—

Ignis's fingers trailed down the still-warm face until his hands rested on the cheeks. It was a beard! And it was a little patchy and if he had known he was un-groomed and unshaven, Ignis would never have let—

Ignis could not stay impartial any longer. It wasn't anyone's face he was cradling. It wasn't anyone's pierced back he had touched. And his fingers weren't smeared with _anyone's_ blood. This was Noctis. The young man he had tutored, cooked for, worried over, fought by the side of, and genuinely let his walls down and laughed with. Noctis had ascended to his Throne, accepted the end of his own life at the point of a sword in order to end the eternal night, and in doing so, ensuring one for Ignis, Gladio and Prompto.

A single loud, broken sob escaped as Ignis, still holding Noctis's head, touched his forehead against his.

"My King, my King…"

"Ignis. Prompto," Gladio's voice was flat and dead when he spoke against the silence. "They're coming."

Prompto, who had been quietly hiccuping, and Ignis, who had been stone-still, raised their heads.

"The daemons." Ignis said, got to his feet, reached for where he left his gloves and headed back down the stairs. It was difficult to put them back on when his hands were shaking so badly, but he put them on, knowing the traces of the King's blood were hidden but still with him. Neither Gladio nor Prompto, who was walking down the stairs next to him, said a word.

Gladio unlocked a compartment by the entrance of the Throne Room to reveal a small cache of emergency weapons—the privileged knowledge of the serving Amicitia—grabbed a slightly rusted greatsword; handed a large gun to Prompto which he would have to improvise with; and several daggers to Ignis. With Noctis gone, there would be no weapons to materialize and Ignis's daggers would not return to him; Gladio's rusty sword would break in just a few blows; and Prompto would be too slow to dodge blows, carrying a heavy gun.

Prompto's finger's tightened around the grip of the gun. He pocketed a reddened picture. The blood-thirsty caterwauls of daemons pierced through the thick wood. They didn't faze him anymore. "Open the damn doors."

* * *

Noctis hadn't wanted to die, but he had been ready for it. That said, the pain of his father's blade faded almost immediately. He waited for death. _One, two,_ he felt his soul drop out from under him, fall and fall until it was sucked into something. A place like the netherworld Bahamut brought him. He warped and there he was, Ardyn. As he stood in front of the immortal man, his father, Gladiolus, Prompto, and Ignis appeared at his side, lending him their strength. He didn't have time to think about why his friends had appeared, couldn't think about anything but his duty. Luna appeared too, touching Ardyn on the arm, bathed in a beautiful golden light.

Noctis was spectral, just energy laid to bare. It was as easy as pouring out a glass of water, expending every last ounce of energy he had to call on the Lucii. It was so easy but so painful, fire spreading through his arm and the rest of his body, his constitution failing and crumbling. He understood the weight the Archaean bore as the swords he had absorbed across Lucis forcefully left his body and reformed behind him to become the thirteen kings. He threw out his hand and the kings charged. Noctis barely saw the moment Ardyn was destroyed before he left himself falling again. The pieces of him falling, because he was no longer a form, he was breaking apart into tiny light and even in this darkness, he had never felt more at peace…

* * *

 _…_ _Noct…_

 _…_

 _…_ _Noooctis…_

…

"What?"

 _Open your eyes, great King._

Noctis opened his eyes slowly. He felt nothing, not his body, nor emotions though he remembered what happened, but only as if it were a dream. He saw nothing, not his body, not anything except darkness. And a shape.

 _King Noctis. Look at me._

Noct struggled on seeing the shape for a moment before he could understand. Standing there, in the vast expanse of nothingness was a dog. Black with white markings, a cloth tied around his leg.

"Umbra."

 _Yes._ Umbra was only panting as he spoke.

"Where am I?"

 _Your body lays dead on your throne. Soon to be found and buried. But you, you aren't anywhere._

"Oh. Then why am I here?"

 _You need to choose. You lived a good life, died a good death, and somewhere in-between, you were a good king, King Noctis Lucis Caelum XIV. Although the Lucis bloodline has been extinguished, Insomnia will live on._

"Good."

 _So, you are offered a choice. I am merely a messenger but I have been allowed to lead you where you want to go. Your afterlife. Would you like to sit at your throne?_

In an instant, Noct was in his body again, feeling cleaner, purer, than ever. He was sitting on his throne and Luna was at his side, resting her hands on the armrest, and her head on her hands. She was even more beautiful here than ever before as she gave him a sleepy smile. He returned it, leaning into her until he could feel the tickle of a stray blonde hair on his nose. It was as golden as her magic in this sunlight and she smelled like freshly-cut Syllblossoms.

 _Sleep, my King, and know that you have done well._ Noct could no longer see Umbra and his voice faded.

White flowers had been placed all over the Throne Room. Tapestries with his name flapping in the light, warm breeze. Pryna, the white dog who perished during the attack of Tenebrae, lay at their feet, napping contentedly. As he looked back at Luna, she leaned in and their lips touched tenderly, for just a moment before her gentle eyes fluttered closed and she rested her head back on the armrest.

Noct propped up his elbow to do the same, leaning into her warmth. He had a feeling he would not awake for a long time.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the picture on the armrest—they were at the Galdin Quay, bright, cerulean sky and vast water, still as glass underneath. On the left side, he, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio posed, smiling. Prompto's hand on his shoulder. It was taken early in their trip, before so much tragedy had struck. He looked at his Sleeping Queen and back at the picture as memory resurfaced, riling him from the heavy, weighty desire for slumber.

* * *

 _They all were sitting around the campfire. Gladio had gotten a cinder in his eye, and wiped it away, but not fast enough that it didn't leave a wet, irritated streak down his left eye. The firelight reflected, making Prompto's eyes look red and puffy. And Ignis's eyes were so damaged so tears would sometimes drop from them, but it wasn't called crying. That's how he had to think, to speak his mind in that moment. He wasn't crying either, at least he hadn't felt them, in his desire to say what he had to, what he owed them, until he sat back down. Noct had accepted his fate, but not the loss of his brothers, that's what made him cry that night. "You guys…are the best."_

"My friends." For the first time since he had been stabbed through, Noctis felt a jolt of emotion. Want to see them again. For a better time, where they rode chocobos instead of Leviathan and freezing trains.

* * *

 _"_ _Un. Believable." The soft lilt of the radio played as the rest of the car remained unresponsive._

 _"_ _Not exactly a fairy tale beginning, huh, Prince Noctis?"_

 _"_ _We let ourselves get carried away."_

 _"_ _Look, these things happen."_

 _"_ _Let's just hope this isn't some omen."_

* * *

The last traces of exhaustion drained from Noct's body. "Umbra! Umbra!"

In front of his throne, the dog appeared, sitting at his feet.

 _Is this not what you wanted, Noctis? Would you rather reside by your tomb so that you can receive the gratitude of all the Lucians?_

"I need to go back."

 _To where? Where would you be happiest, dear King?_

"I was happiest with my friends, traveling the country. Before everything fell apart. Before everyone died."

Umbra's ears twitched and though his eyes were as unreadable as ever, Noctis could tell he was deep in thought. After a moment, he was at his feet with a bark that didn't stir Luna a bit.

 _I have a compromise, your Highness. I can send you back. I can do it so it will be as if you never boarded the boat to Altissia. It isn't in your plane of existence, it's a different timeline than your own, where you and your friends can travel together forever._

"What? If there are different timelines, that means we only saved one world among…how many?" The despair started to rise in Noct's voice until he sounded twenty again.

 _Contrary to some belief, these timelines are quite finite. And each of them matters. You said you wanted to continue to help people? Would a father not mourn a child's death, if they were on a different world?_

"I can't, I can't let everything be undone by never traveling to Altissia. Luna would…" Noct trailed off, imagining her making her stand alone against the Leviathan.

 _This timeline is an existence identical to your own except that people age much more slowly. You, of course, would never age, and the events in Tenebrae and Insomnia will never worsen except if acted upon by a greater force. This world is resistant to change. But, if you go to Altissia in this world, the series of events you know so well will begin to unfold. Will you go experience the afterlife there?_

Noctis looked at his bride-to-be, serene and beautiful as Shiva herself. He could sit down and lay his head by hers and finally know rest. But while she was spending her afterlife in her dreams, he could not bare it. He kissed the top of her head, lingering there in her silken hair for a few moments before standing up.

"Luna, I will be back before you wake," he said. Umbra reached out to lick Pryna fondly between the ears before turning back to him.

 _And so, The Last King of Lucis returns._

Before he could say a word, Noct was engulfed in black again.

And then mid-day brightness, he squeezed his eyes shut and fought for his balance for a second before opening his them. There were other sounds of discomfort around him, too. In front of him, in various states of fallen over, were Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto.

They were looking up now, too. Shock and disbelief evident on all of their faces.

"NOCT!" It was a chorus from Noct's three best friends, who looked like their old selves. Relief and delayed fear and pain and everything he had not been allowed to feel since his death all came rolling back on him, choking his voice.

Prompto was the first one to him, throwing his thin arms around him and squeezing tight, resting his forehead on Noct's shoulder. Noct returned the hug as Prompto began to shake and they stood there for just another second before Prompto hopped back and blew him an ecstatic kiss with both the palms of his hands and an exaggerated kiss sound _._ They were all still wearing their Kingsguard attire, and he, his King's Armaments.

 _Where would you like to spend eternity? Living in the most beautiful pictures you've ever taken?_

 _"_ _It's not the pictures I care about! The truth is, I'll never take a picture of just a landscape because it's lonely. What make the pictures are the people in them. I died after losing my best friend. I want to go where he is. I don't care where."_

Noct laughed and laughed genuinely, making him almost unprepared for when Ignis walked up to him, and grasped his shoulders firmly. For the first time in a very long time, they were able to make eye contact. Ignis could see the world again and he was choosing to stare face to face with Noctis.

Behind them, Prompto excitedly punched Gladio in the stomach and Gladio hooked him under his arm and mussed his hair with the heel of his hand.

Ignis's grip tightened and though his voice was stern, his eyes were bright. "If you _ever_ grow such an un-groomed, un-kingly beard again, Your Highness, I shall be forced to take drastic measures. I prefer you as you are now." Noct's grin made it impossible for him to stop and ask how Ignis had known he had a beard in the first place.

"Of course," he managed.

 _Where would you like to spend eternity? I could send you the Library of Ancients, the largest compendium of knowledge in the universe._

 _"_ _I find I care little for knowledge without a chance to put it to use."_

 _Indeed, would you like to reside at the shrine made in your honor? It lies next to Gladiolus's and Prompto's, just outside the entrance of The Savior of Lucis's tomb._

 _"_ _Is that where Noct is?"_

 _No, he has decided rest is not for him. He would go back and move among the living._

 _"_ _What a foolish King. He needs someone to look after him. Take me to him, if you would."_

Gladio was ready as soon as Ignis backed up, wrapping his arms around his King for just a few moments. "God, I'm glad you're alive, we're _all_ alive." He shoved Noct away from him, good-naturedly. "The Leviathan herself couldn't keep me from my duty now."

 _Where would you like to spend eternity? I could send you anywhere you like, you could watch over your bloodline, reside by—"_

 _"_ _Just take me to my dumb King."_

"So," Ignis said, adjusting his glasses, marveling at the world around him for the first time in ten years, "where to next?" Indeed, the Regalia was parked just thirty feet away, navy blue shining in the first sunlight they'd seen in a decade.

All their eyes turned to Noct, who thought about the picture in his pocket, how he could go fishing and they could enjoy the salty breeze in the Regalia. "How about the ocean?"

—

 _Umbra padded back into the Throne Room, where Luna lay resting in deep slumber. He sat at her feet and licked her exposed knee._

 _"_ _Luna, they were tried and tempted but in the end, they chose exactly how you said. Their journey ever lives."_

 _In Luna's sleep, a soft smile graced her lips._

* * *

 **I'll probably add more chapters, one-shots of their life. I already have a couple ideas about what happens next, really. This is how I really, really wish it ended, but I'm not going to say that it didn't have a good ending, it was just incredibly, horribly painful. Anyway, please review!**


	2. Of Prompto

**_Thanks for the support for the first chapter and here's the second!_**

* * *

 _We are breathing and letting go._

 _We are made of our longest days,_

 _we are falling but not alone._

 _We will take the best parts of ourselves_

 _and make them gold._

 _-"Make Them Gold" Chvrches_

* * *

Noct missed the sun of Galdin Quay. Sure, it was nice to see Prompto smiling again but really, the smell of Chocobo poop on a humid day was almost too much to bear. He had to be fair to his friend though: it was his turn to decide where to go.

They'd spent three days at Galdin Quay, napping on the beach, fishing and swimming as per Noctis' request. The four boys had decided each of them got to pick somewhere to vacation, a welcome respite to the horror show that had been the last ten years. Ignis went next, and they road-tripped across Lucis, visiting the Disk of Cauthess, the canyon and plenty of locations in between. Then it was Gladio's turn and they relaxed in Lestallum with a side trip to kill a behemoth. It only felt right to start with a vacation, after all, they only had the rest of their afterlife.

Finally, it was Prompto's turn and to Wiz's Chocobo Stable it was. Noctis tossed his phone in his hand, looking for said friend, who hadn't replied to his texts. Gladio was talking with the weapons trader and Ignis was purchasing greens, but Prompto was nowhere in sight. It was later in the day so Noctis would have been sure Prompto would be begging them to go on a long ride or challenging him to a race. The king was concerned, the last couple days, Prompto had increasingly distant and quiet, so he visited every spot he could conceive the Chocobo lover would be.

Eventually, Noctis found him.

"You like roofs just as much as me, huh?" Noctis said, stepping over a cluster of cables running toward the lit up Chocobo sign, and plopped down next to his blonde friend.

"It gives me perspective, I guess," Prompto said glumly, kicking the wall with his heels.

"Hm? Perspective on what?"

"Everything that's happened. That," Prompto gestured lazily at the now-setting sun. "The fact that it's still there. We don't even know if it will ever rise again for _our_ Eos."

"You can't think like that. Of course the sun rose again. We died so it could rise." Noct asserted. If he closed his eyes, he could almost see the sunlight filtering into his Throne Room.

"Yeah." Prompto wouldn't look at him still.

"Something else is wrong."

Prompto put his hand on the pocket and pulled something out. It took Noct a moment to recognize it in its state.

"The picture? How did you…" Noct trailed off, baffled. It was stained almost completely with red and brown, dementing the figures in the picture, a corruption of what was such a good memory.

"You had it in your chest pocket, Noct, _when you died._ I took it off your body." Prompto said flatly. Of course the image would have been ruined after his death, but Noct hadn't even had a chance to bleed before he'd died, so he hadn't known. But his friends had had to see him like that.

"You came back to the Throne Room?" Noct said in a small voice.

"Damn well, we did. We didn't want you to die alone but in the end…" _you still did._

Noct didn't know what to say to that. "I guess I assumed you, Ignis and Gladio, well, died on the steps to the Citadel." He swallowed nervously, almost not wanting to know. "How did it happen?"

"We got back to the Throne Room and we found you," Prompto's fists clenched, but he stopped when the photo crinkled in protest. "and we decided to make our last stand. We only had makeshift weapons. I was the first to get hit. I—I couldn't move out of the way and got thrown against a wall, I think I snapped my spine 'cause I couldn't move at all. And Ignis and Gladio just kept fighting, fending off hoards. One of the daemons came down on me with an axe and Ignis took the hit for me, even though—! Even though we both knew I wasn't going to last, that I had minutes, tops, he took it."

Prompto choked over his words, grabbing his mouth to stop a sob of panic. Noct opened his mouth to stop him but Prompto shook his head vigorously. "I think Iggy was dead before he hit the ground. Gladio was raging. He kept fighting, no matter what happened. He lost a leg a-and and he stood against the wall and fought them off until he collapsed. And I was the last to go. I saw the three of you dead and I just faded…I didn't even realize it until it was over."

Noct didn't realize he had tears running down his face until they dropped on his lap. He hastily looked away and wiped them away. Prompto did the same with his. "Gladio's last words were about you, you know. I couldn't hear him but he mouthed your name."

"Those weren't his last words," Noctis said after several seconds, voice still shaky. "I won't accept any last words from any of you ever again." He fished a picture from his own jacket pocket and handed it to Prompto, who accepted with surprise.

"This…"

"Yeah, same one." Noct said as Prompto compared the photos. One with bright blue seas, the smiling faces of four adventurers, the other a cruel parody. "I had it when I died. And when I woke up again, sitting at my throne, this picture was what reminded me where I belonged when I wanted to stay behind and sleep forever with Luna."

Prompto cheered up a little. "You really think you made the right choice?" He asked carefully.

"Truth be told, every night, I dream that I'm at the throne, sleeping there with her. And I'm really happy. But when I wake up, I'm always relieved that I'm here where I can travel with the three of you for as long as I want." Noct shrugged. "You can keep the picture, if you want."

"Thanks, Noct!" Prompto flashed the king a smile before tucking both pictures back in his jacket. Noct wanted to tell him to throw away the photo covered in his dying blood, but he didn't want to push his best friend just yet.

"Of course, Prompto."

"What do you say we race Chocobos?" Prompto ventured, the smile widening across his face.

"Hn," Noct clasped his hands behind his head, returning the smile, "only if you get a head-start, it's just too easy otherwise."

* * *

 **Stay tuned and please review!**


	3. Of Ignis

**This chapter's a bit short but what can I say, Ignis said what he needed to say.**

* * *

When _did the sky turn black?_

 _And when did the light come back?_

 _I fought all through the night_

 _Oh oh, but I made it alive!_

 _The sun is starting to rise_

 _Oh, oh these are beautiful times!_

 _-"Beautiful Times" Owl City_

(Ah, double blind jokes…eep.)

* * *

Noct woke up in the backseat of the car and sat up, apprising his surroundings. Ignis reclining (as much as Ignis ever did) in the driver's seat, the engine humming softly beneath them, providing warmth to what appeared to be a chilly, rainy day. And no sign of Gladio or Prompto.

"Eh?" Noct mumbled, rubbing his eyes roughly, chasing away the longing pangs for Luna, who had yet again graced his dreams

"Ah, our king finally awakens." Ignis quipped.

"'Prince', we're trying to go undercover."

"I very much doubt that's much better, your highness." He remarked dryly. "You were asleep for quite a while. Four or five hours. The others are collecting information, first real quest back together, you know. Prompto was quite disappointed when he couldn't wake you up." Ignis adjusted the rearview mirror to look at him, even though he didn't have to and could have just turned around. _Habit_ , Noctis guessed. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Ah, yeah," Noct nodded, "I was just tired."

"I see. Noctis, I'd be lying if I weren't concerned about your sleeping habits right at present." Ignis positioned himself in the spacious front seat so he could almost fully face Noctis while still maintaining his ever-dignified appearance.

"I'm just tired, trying to get back on track," Noctis said, thinking about his constant dreams about Luna. He felt a little guilty about inadvertently keeping Ignis, though. The man hadn't had to babysit Noct for ten years and he had been thrust back into it suddenly, now with an extra ten years of experience on the young prince. "You didn't have to wait in the car with me."

Ignis fixed Noct a sour look, as if he were offended by the very idea.

"Just kidding." The conversation lulled for a few moments before Ignis spoke up again.

"Noct, do you know anything about those ten years? What happened with Prompto, Gladio and I?" Ignis asked suddenly, maneuvering himself so he could look at his king.

"Huh?" Noct was thrown by Ignis's change in disposition and the non-sequitur. Or had he heard something in his voice?

"Your Chocobo never understood why you never came back for her. She'd follow us, sometimes. But it was hard for a red Chocobo to hide well, so we always knew." He paused for a very un-Ignis bitter smile. "One day—maybe three years after you disappeared—we were on a hunt and we were ambushed by iron giants. I thought for sure, that would be the end of us. In the nick of time, Canary came charging out of nowhere, diverting attention, enough for us to retrieve our weapons and regain our bearings. And after the battle, we found her.

"There was nothing we could do, her throat was slashed and Prompto held her as she bled out. I think for Prompto, it was like losing his last real connection with you, we had no idea when you would come back, if it would even be in our lifetimes. He disappeared for a few months after we buried Canary. And that's the same time we stopped traveling with each other. We'd get together for certain missions, but for the most part, we stayed our distance from each other."

Noct didn't say a word. His friends had dealt with such darkness. The very things he had wanted to protect them from when he had sacrificed himself. He was a decade too late in the end.

"I'm not saying this to hurt you. I told you this because, your highness, not having you tore us apart. I think they've realized it too, when we lost you, we had nothing to live for, we didn't live long. You did the right thing for Insomnia as the king, but if you ever do that again, Noctis, I will revive you, and _kill you myself."_ Ignis finished on a thoughtful tone, more like himself. "That's what I've been thinking about for a few days, you highness. Forgive me for unloading all that on you so suddenly, but I think it is of most importance."

"…Of course, Ignis…"

"Ah, there they are! And they managed to find food, too. I took the liberty of requesting an Italian salad for you. Just because we've died doesn't mean I'm going support any unsound food decisions."

* * *

 **Just so you know, in this world, if you die, you die. They're not immortal, they just won't age. Anyway, the next chapter will be Gladio! Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Of Gladiolus

Of Gladiolus

 _I don't know where you're going but do you got_

 _room for one more troubled soul?_

 _I don't know where I'm going_

 _but I don't think I'm coming home._

 _And I'll say_

 _I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead._

 _This is the road to ruin_

 _and we started at the end._

 _-"Alone Together" Fall Out Boy_

(I'm sorry, it just worked so well for this story! You can just keep finding new parallels.)

* * *

Noctis and his brothers had been on the road almost all day, their vacation could only last so long before they came along to a town being attacked by a pack of Coeruls. Luckily, the pack had split up after the attack but that led to the team driving around dispatching a dozen Coeruls that day. By the time they stopped at the Crow's Nest, they exhaustedly dumped themselves into a booth, Ignis included.

They went through their orders quickly, Ignis amending Noctis's slider and a milkshake order to include a side of salad.

Prompto looked at his friends carefully before speaking. "So, are we going back to the saving-the-world gig?"

Ignis looked at him sharply. "Prompto, you know perfectly well the sequence of events that begins in Altissia. Frankly, I'm astonished you'd even say that."

Prompto put his hands out in submission, knowing they were tired and fuses were short. "That's not what I meant. The way I look at it, we were saving the world a long time before we go on that boat."

"You mean fighting Magitek, hunting monsters, and being errand boys," Gladio said.

"Yeah, we made a difference for a lot of people living around here, even if we can't go to Altissia and fix everything that happens there. You know what we never got to? Fighting that zuu in that flaming mountain!"

"Weren't you the one who wanted to avoid that fight?" Noctis pointed out.

"Yeah, but things are different now. In the scheme of things, it seems like less of a big deal than before."

Noctis chuckled tiredly. "Well, you've got a point, Prom. After the Leviathan, Ravus, and Ardyn, the zuu won't seem so hard," he said, thinking about how his pulse beat frantically through his head as they crept around the nested bird just over seven months ago. For him, it was seven months ago, he reminded himself, for the rest of them, it was almost eleven years ago.

The server came by and set plates in front of each person. Noctis barely managed a word of gratitude before digging into his slider. To divert Ignis's rather harassed mood, (not that he blamed him, he'd driven over six hours today) he finished his salad too.

"So, what's after this?" Gladio inquired, sipping his chocolate shake. "We can find a motel around here. I'm not feeling an RV after all this food."

"Best thing you've said all day, Gladio!" Prompto said.

Gladio fixed him a look. "Oh?"

"Best thing you've said so far," Prompto amended.

"Thanks but that's the same thing, idiot."

Noctis was going to agree with finding somewhere for the night, suggest that they go crazy and try to go to an actual hotel this time, but the words got stuck in his throat as a dry, stinging sensation traveled up and down his throat. An unpleasant warmth swelled in his throat and instead of real, dignified words, he came up with " _huuhgnn_."

His friends' eyes all flicked over to him in varying degrees of bewilderment and confusion. Noct's hands tightened to fists in distress. He remembered the last time something like this had happened. How long ago had it been? Late middle school, when his chef was out sick and the sous chef had forgotten his allergy and Noctis stumbled out of the lunch room, almost passing out in the hallway. Ignis had arrived, seething, ten minutes later with the royal physician—

" _Whhhh_ —" Noctis gulped as he felt the walls of his throat constrict a little further, causing a whistle-like wheeze to punctuate his breath. In a flash, he was up, heart hammering against his ribs, and hurrying to the door, flight-instincts having completely taken over his body. Or more accurately, his father's and tutor's messages that he couldn't show weakness publically ringing in his head.

 _"It could would look bad for Insomnia if you show this weakness," one retainer had said._

 _"Moreover, if it has anything to do with your allergy or the injuries you sustained during the attack, it is important that no one knows so they can't target them." Ignis had put in gently._

"Noct?"

"Hey!"

He pushed through the door and stumbled outside toward a bench half occupied by a dumb penguin. He felt his cheeks flushing and all his breaths were coming and going fast, shallow and like a broken squeaky toy. He didn't quite get to the bench and instead crouched near it, gripping the rail like it was an anchor.

Not a second later, he felt a hand on his shoulder. A hand that covered his shoulder, from the collarbone to the top of his shoulder blade.

Not a second after that, "Noct? What's happening?" Prompto asked, sounding small and helpless. Gladio grabbed his other shoulder too, and turned Noct to face them.

Noctis' hair was obscuring some of his vision but he saw the three faces of his best friends.

"Ignis, get over here. Prompto, bring his plate out, now! _What the fuck is this?_ " Gladio turned to Ignis, his voice hard and urgent.

 _Oh? Does Gladio not know?_ Noctis wondered vaguely, trying to focus on his breathing. _Huh._

Ignis slid by Prompto, who hurried back into the diner. He knelt down by Noctis, pulling off a glove and touching his cheek, then went down to his pulse point, - _trying not to think about when he'd been blind and had found Noct on the throne so still-_ and listened carefully for a few seconds.

"Noctis, can you hear me?" Ignis asked carefully, over the wheezing. Noct nodded, trying to focus on his strained breathing which had stopped worsening. Ignis took his free hand and grabbed Noct's. "Good, if you can't breathe, squeeze my hand. For now, let's just focus on slow breaths. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three…" Ignis turned to Gladiolus. "It appears his throat closed up and he's having a moderate allergic reaction."

"Here's his plate!" Prompto announced, popping into view and shoving the half-eaten food into view. The server had also poked his head out, curious about all the fuss. Ignis scanned over this for a second and located the offending food, grabbing a purple strip of vegetable and popping it into his mouth.

"Careful, Ignis! It could be poisoned!" Prompto yelped, grabbing his arm to try to stop his friend. "They could have known about Noct and tried to—" He shivered, barely able to think about the prospect of an…assassination attempt.

Ignis's expression changed from controlled desperation to anger and defeat. "Carrots."

"Why's he eating carrots? He's allergic!" Prompto shot back, looking at the softly gasping Noctis, head slumped in exhaustion as Gladio rubbed circles into his back.

"You, server, what, exactly is this?" Ignis stood to full height, presenting the vegetable to the server.

"Um, that's a carrot, they're magically modified to be purple."

"And why wasn't it listed in the ingredients?"

"It's seasonal, we can't change the menu every time we switch ingredients!" the server said, quickly becoming on edge.

Gladio grabbed Prompto's sleeve and pulled him toward Noct. "Keep him taking deep breaths, talk to him." Then he approached the server with all the fury of a bodyguard that felt as if he'd failed.

"What kind of restaurant doesn't list the ingredients to avoid _this exact situation from happening?"_ Gladio snarled.

The server, a lanky guy with scruffy brown hair didn't seem that troubled. "I don't know, a twenty-four hour diner?"

Gladio's face went blank for a moment before furrowing up in rage. He grabbed a handful of his shirt and hauled him up close enough that their noses were almost touching. "I swear, if anything-"

"Gladio, understand how you're feeling right now, but you must let him go. This was just a very unfortunate, _completely_ _preventable,_ misunderstanding." Ignis said from Noctis' side, before adressing the server. "You can let your boss know, I will be lodging a formal complaint to the Eos Food Registry as soon as possible," he said, helping Gladio heft a now-less pale Noctis up.

* * *

Three hours later, after Noctis had taken a nap and a shower, Noctis and Gladio were reclining at the table outside of their rented RV. Ignis, after he had finished fretting over Noctis, had gotten into a mood. He seemed to be blaming himself, though Noctis had insisted there was no way anyone could have known except for himself, who hadn't had carrots in so long, he'd forgotten what they tasted like. Ignis had thanked him for the sentiment but continued to brood. Prompto, exhausted, had headed off to bed early.

The night was dark and moths flew above their heads, attracted to the light above them. Noctis played on his phone while Gladio sipped a beer. Noct knew Gladio had moved on from any feeling of guilt he'd had in the moment, so he felt at peace not mentioning it. For a long time, since he'd found out that he'd lied to him and the king about how Iris left the castle, there had been a kind of unspoken connection between the two, forged within long hours training, traveling, laughing, bleeding for their cause. Even with what happened earlier that day, Noctis wasn't sure he needed a bodyguard anymore. He wasn't a prince traveling for marriage anymore, he was a honed fighter. They could defeat the zuu on the mountain if they tried, maybe someday the adamantoise. He could summon gods. They hadn't won like they had hoped, the end; but they'd still defeated Arydn.

 _Shit,_ Noctis thought as he lost his duel against some punk with the username trueprince420. _How tacky is that?_ Properly done with the app for the night, he tucked his phone away and looked at his companion.

"You ever think we're not doing the right thing by staying here instead of going to Altissa?" Noctis asked out of the blue. He thinks about all the things that they would have to deal with again, Iggy going blind, Luna's death, Prompto's disappearance, ten years of darkness, culminating in his own sacrifice and that of his friends.

Gladio looked at him, suddenly serious. Then he smirked slightly and ran a hand through his hair. It was a self-conscious gesture that Noctis wasn't used to seeing on his guardian. "That depends."

Noct leaned forward a little. "Depends? Depends on what?"

"If you're still the same kid who had no other choice but to give up his life to save his kingdom," Gladio replied, now grave weight sparkling in his amber eyes, even in the fluorescent light.

Noct gave a frustrated sigh as he palmed away the beginning of a headache. "I don't know what you talking about. It was my destiny, Gladio. Even my father knew it was coming and had accepted it."  
"So you will, too? Blindly?" Gladio pressed.

The king frowned. "You're trying to tell me that my father-and the prophecy-was wrong. Or-or at least not completely right. But if there was another way...well, I realized today that I'd have regrets if I left this world how it is now. Leaving things _unfinished._ "

"Our 'fate' was the easiest course to take, but I won't accept that it's the only one. Your father moved forward, accepting the consequences and not looking back, but that doesn't have to be you."

The king smiled at the Amacita, one of his best friends, who had proven himself in every way imaginable. It felt strange, having this conversation, about the fate of his kingdom, and deciding whether or not to go into battle, again, outside a rusty RV under one, flickering yellow bulb as moths flew around them. But, he supposed, in their adventures, the quietest moments had most often been the most important. Gladio was pushing him to learn and grow now, just as he had for years before this journey had even started. Finally, the king's resolve steeled. The zuu and the adamantoise could wait. "Things are going to be different this time," he said.

...

And everything changes. Noctis accepts the stone after Altissa, in order to heal Ignis' eyes, his friends continue on, waiting loyally again until he meets them at Hammerhead. They walk tall together, with Ravus. And Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio bow to him on his coronation day. In the darkness of the corner of the room, Umbra appears. As the True King sits in his Throne, wearing his royal armaments, Umbra smiles. _It's not what you hoped for, Luna. But it's what the world needed._

A new dawn in Insomnia blooms like a Sylflower, and under Noctis Lucis Caelum XIV, they are stronger than ever.

* * *

Wow **. Thank you all so much for reading. Seriously. This ended up going a different direction than I originally planned, but I realized that it would be doing Noct's arc of accepting responsibility a disservice to have him avoid the issue of the kingdom, so their stay in this strange, paused world was more of a temptation before they proved themselves once again. And the alternate ending offered a perfect canon-ish way of ending things. Also, let's talk about how the other two's chapters, Noctis kind of helped his friends off with their burdens and troubles, and when it came to Gladio, he still pushed and helped Noct find his path, like a true Amicitia. Thanks again!**


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